Nepal Telecomm, shareholders at loggerhead

Nepal Telecom (NT) added 10,095 mobile users everyday between last July and this March, according to the company.
The company -- that held its first annual general meeting (AGM) recently -- said at a press briefing here today that it has a customer base of 24,22,699 in the pre-and-post paid mobile segment whereas the number of landline users is 5,51,416 and that of CDMA users 6,86,032.
Its new service ADSL users has also reached 13,969 till February. The company posted a net profit of Rs 7.94 billion in from the fiscal year 2064 to 2066 BS. It is looking to achieve a target of Rs 10.13 billion for the current fiscal year. In its AGM, however, NT decided to distribute only 25 per cent cash dividends to its shareholders. The unhappy shareholders have formed a struggle committee. They have accused NT of not mentioning what happened to the Rs 500 per unit share in the annual report. "The company did not listen to shareholders and took an arbitary decision during the AGM," complained Hari Kumar Shah, a shareholder. "While floating shares also NT did not mentioned its net worth but added Rs 500 premium stretching a minimum bid of a Rs 100 per unit shares to Rs 600 per unit," he added.
From last June-July's teledensity of 10.12, in February it has reached 13.28 --- the highest teledensity in this region. The company has also started providing its pre-paid services on demand and its GSM/CDMA has reached all 75 districts, said the company.However, the company is blamed for its poor quality and service. "We have been facing many problems and receiving many complaints but at the same time we are trying to improve our service quality," said Amar Nath Singh, managing director of NT. He said that the results will be felt in the next five to six months.
Admitting that Nepal Telecom has not been able to meet the needs and expectations of the public, Singh added that they are looking to expand extensively and consumers will be experiencing a change in all aspects of the service soon. "Load shedding has been affecting the smooth functioning of services as the BTS towers cannot function due to prolonged hours of load-shedding," he said adding that NT is adding alternative means of energy like solar panels and generators to counter the problem.
Nepal Telecom also made public today that it has implemented Employee's Code of Conduct.